Abstract:Water balance has always been the key scientific issue facing in vegetation construction in sandy areas of northern China. Lysimeter is regarded as the most reliable tool in studying water balance. The existing problems such as the limited lysimeter sites, the system mismatch and accuracy inconsistency among lysimeters restrict the theoretical innovation of arid ecohydrology. Grouping large intelligent weighable lysimeters is an effective way to break through the aforementioned bottleneck, and conforms to the current interdisciplinary research trend. Funded by the "Key Scientific and Technological Infrastructure Construction Project for the Field Station Network of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)", Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station of CAS completed the platform construction of Automatic Simulating and Monitoring System for Water Balance of Sandy Areas of Northern China-Shapotou Lysimeter Group in 2019. Based on 36 large weighable lysimeters, this platform also assembles other systems such as precipitation and groundwater simulation system, root dynamics monitoring system, soil solution extraction system, and data management information system. Within lysimeters, soils transported from different bioclimatic sandy areas were repacked and the corresponding typical sand fixation shrubs were transplanted. Functions and features of this platform include simulating precipitation and groundwater, and continuously monitoring processes such as soil water dynamics, evapotranspiration, and plant growth with a high accuracy. Shapotou Lysimeter group is an important platform for understanding the ecohydrological interaction mechanisms within revegetation-soil system and for exploring models of plant sand fixation and theories of ecological restoration and rehabilitation of sandy areas. It will greatly enhance the ability for field stations to conduct scientific researches and to solve national key scientific and technical issues.